'Finally,' The Nord thought as he stared down upon the bones of yet another dragon. "Skyrim is safe once more." The man stood tall amongst the home of his gods, though his body bespoke of exhaustion as he held his war hammer loosely; the weapon hanging in his grip. Though the soul of the dragon had filled him with vigor and adrenaline, his muscles and bones screamed for rest. He had been on the path of the ominous beast of legend for six weeks, never halting save to buy a new horse and refresh his provisions and armor. Once he had reached Sovengarde he faced the beast for the final time, tearing away at his life with the Shout until nothing but a quivering husk of the past was left, pleading for him to show mercy and spare his life. The man had simple smiled at the creature before digging the claw of his hammer into its jaw and using the Thu'um to blast away its skull.

"Talos, I am tired," the man said, hoping his god could hear him amongst the thousands of others. "Your warrior is tired, and his life grows weaker by the day. Here I met a foe, nay a friend I helped reach his peace. The friend was an Orc, and he thanked me for bringing him an honorable death. I wish no longer for battle, Talos. I wish for the life mine father owned, one of land and growth. But if I return to Skyrim they will wish me to lead armies against the Elves, to ride Nightmares into the fray and lay waste to mine brothers." The warrior dug the head of his hammer into the misty ground, dropping to his knees. "Your serf wishes you grant him peace in life, for my time is not at hand. A life of rest and industriousness for the tried hero." The Nord reached into a pouch on his waist, withdrawing an idol of Tiber Septim. He placed the statuette on a stone before him, removing his helm and bowing before it.

The ground below him shook, sudden and violently, the warrior retrieving his now fallen statuette and depositing it in a pouch before standing to run. He donned his helmet, using one of the horns as leverage and retrieving his hammer before turning around to make his way back to where he had entered Sovengarde.

But something had changed…

All around him the scape* had changed, the misty cliffs and towers, hazy forms of people and animals had faded away, being filled with the precipice of a bluff and white nothing. Fog rolled around him, coiling around his limbs before being pulled over the edge and into the void beyond. There was a sound amongst the shuddering of the earth, a sound like the growl of a massive creature. And then…

There was a voice…

A voice like no other. A voice that commanded respect and fealty, which was filled to overflow with power and wisdom. And the voice spoke to him, slow and deliberate as if it had not spoken for and eternity.

"Thou hast done Skyrim a great service, Kerik of Windhelm," the voice said, pausing after each word as the fog in the void moved around a massive form without definition. "And in death this service would have granted a welcome of kings upon thine arrival to Sovengarde. But alas, your time is not now, nor even close at hand." A hand formed in the fog, reaching out to Kerik and resting on the bluff. "You pray of me peace, but this I cannot give. Mine people have abandoned me, be it at the hand of Elves and those who oppose the empire I formed to keep peace upon Nirn." A face and torso formed in the fog as it rolled away, revealing the god Talos; Tiber Septim himself. "I cannot grant you peace on this world, but another awaits your arrival. Step onto my hand, Son of Skyrim, brother of mine." Kerik hesitated, looking at Talos, then the gods hand before doing as he was told. Talos lifted Kerik before him, looking up and turning around before returning his view to him.

"I can find only one world that may hold the peace you seek," he said. Kerik felt something latch onto his breastplate, the force lifting him from Talos' hand and into the air. "But this world is at war. This war will engulf their world in flames lest an end is found, a means of defeating a principal manifested." Kerik found Talos had pinched his armor with two giant fingers, now swinging him around as the god turned. "You wish for peace, but I learned that peace must be won. You must fight for your peace Kerik, fight hard and fight well. For once it is achieved you shall have the piece that you desire." Talos closed his hand around Kerik, holding him gently but firm.

He reached his arm behind himself, aiming at a bright light in the distance. Kerik could feel the panic taking hold, filling his chest with an aching throb. "There must be a better way than this," he yelled, trying to make his small voice heard by the giant god. "You cannot truly think that throwing me from Sovengarde will finish the task." Talos laughed quickly, looking back at the man once.

"True," he said, returning his gaze and taking aim once more. "But this is more fun. May their gods watch over you Kerik; this is where my influence ends," Talos moved his arm forward at speed, Kerik screaming from adrenaline as he was released from his grasp and sent flying into nothing.

"We are making no progress with that massive monster out there," Commander Hurricane said as he viewed over the top of the battlements. An earth pony and unicorn in like colored armor nodded silently beside him, their eyes and stances equally as haggard as his. The three looked out over the two square mile wide battle field, bodies from both sides littering the ground near the middle. "Something has to give, and soon. Don't you agree Princess Platinum?" the unicorn nodded, her blackened and dented armor clinking together lightly.

"Yes, we must find a way to bring the beast down before we can make a charge," she said. "Else this battle will continue until our forces are utterly decimated. Do you have any ideas Chancellor Puddinghead?" the earth pony to her right took a further pensive look, racking his brain for some sort of tactical solution.

"None that do not require a massive loss of ground and forces," he said with a shrug. "Although we could send in our Dark Knight. She would be more than happy to fix this problem for us, but her sister would never allow it." A trapdoor opened behind them the sounds of two pairs of hooves resonating out as two winged and horned ponies walked out.

"You would be correct, chancellor. Luna shall not be permitted to fight further until she has fully recovered from her injury." The white Alicorn stood tall and regal, though her eyes betrayed the fatigue her body felt. A midnight blue Alicorn, of slightly smaller stature, glared at the former, taking up an aggressive posture.

"I am no foal, sister," she heatedly argued. "I can still fight. That sword barely nicked my flesh. It is well enough in my opinion to permit battle." The white Alicorn glared back, coming face to face with her sister Luna.

"And the medic said your stitches are still too fresh to withstand the actions or battle!" The Alicorn tossed her mane out of her face. "Besides, I doubt even we could best that," She pointed over the lip of the battlements to a hundred foot tall dragon. The behemoth laid waste to siege engines and squadrons of troops with swipes from its tail and the slightest wave of a clawed foot. The seven hundred foot long wingless dragon released a torrent of fire from its maw, a guttural laugh rumbling across the bodies and trenches from its throat. "I can only hope we can hold it off long enough to escape before they summon forth another!" Luna simply scoffed at her sister's remark, only having glanced at the beast she had spent the last week plotting against.

"It's a dragon Celestia, not an immortal being," Luna retorted. "It has a heart, a mind and a Liver; you take one out of the equation and the other two fall as well.**" Celestia sighed, turning away from her battle born sister and to the matter at hand. Luna scowled after her, her horn glowing with a dark blue aura. A stone that would have tested the powers of the most trained unicorn lifted from the battlefield as she maneuvered it from afar. Ponies scattered as she moved the massive slab over the area, bringing it from a mountain to the problem. "If it will not travel then I will bring the mountain to it!" she yelled through the strain as Celestia stared at the power of her younger sister. "I did not become a Demigod to be bested by a mortal beast!" she screamed as she dropped the stone from high above the dragon.

The beast looked up as debris fell onto its face, seeing the three hundred metric ton slab falling towards him. "Is this the best you can do," he yelled across the field as he raised his tail, battering away the giant block like so many river stones. Luna screamed in frustration as the beast laughed at her, turning around to one of the archers and taking his bow and an arrow.

"Calm yourself Luna!" Celestia yelled as her sister embedded a spell of piercing into the arrow, loosing the bolt over the field at an arc. The arrow came within a foot of the monster, the magic being dispelled by an unforeseen barrier before the shaft buried itself in the dragon's scales. Luna blew a strand of her mane off of her muzzle, thrusting the bow back into the archers care before returning to a four legged stance. "I told you there was nothing we could do, and yet you persisted to strain yourself and break your stitches!" Luna huffed, reaching down and wetting her hoof in the small pool of blood that had formed underneath her ribs.

"I'll be fine," she said passively, taking the bandage roll an archer held out and wrapping her chest in cloth. "The worst that could happen is that I will acquire a scar. Now if you are done bickering, do any of the tribe leaders have a solution?" The tree ponies shook their heads, confirming her suspicions. "Then all we can do is hope the gods are on our side when it counts. I have no plan to fight this challenge, and unless she had chosen not to share I doubt my sister has one either."

The sound of canon fire blasted overhead, the ponies and dragon armies both turning their heads skyward, some locked in battle taking advantage of the distraction of their foe. Another loud explosion sounded overhead soon after, having this time caught the attention of the massive behemoth. Light bloomed above the field, painting the sky in a red light. "What are you doing sister?" Luna asked in a half dazed tone. Celestia shook her head, looking up at the light as well.

"This is not my…" she was cut off, another explosion sounding as the light changed to blue. "…is not my work." On the field, ponies and dragons alike were dropping weapons, bowing to the ground to pray forgiveness. Some fled back toward their respective sides while even more simply fled, leaving the battle with whatever they had on them. The ponies and dragon warriors continued to leave the field out of superstition or fear; the only ones remaining were the large dragon, an upright, winged dragon, a normal dragon in golden armor and a serpentine dragon.

"These ponies think they can scare us away with light and sound, Thorn," the large dragon rumbled as another explosion resounded above. The upright dragon sheathed his swords at his waist, looking into the sky.

"I find their attempts to scare us a petty waste of magic," Thorn said, his armor making a clamor as he laughed. "What do you think, Xiang? You know the most about magic here." The serpentine dragon scoffed, waving his hand dismissively.

"This is, as Mammoth said, a futile attempt," another boom sounded, the light turning a vivid violet as a dull roar filled the air. "There is nothing up there that could possibly harm us, I would have detected any magical attack long before it become as ominous as this looks." The roaring continued to grow in volume, the golden armored dragon thinking as he blew a small stream of fire over his scaled claws.

His eyes went wide suddenly, memories arising. "What if it isn't magical," he proposed. "I remember this happening eight hundred years ago. You remember Mammoth, when that meteorite landed in the sea near our homeland." The large dragon scoffed.

"This is no meteor," he said. "If you remembered correctly Draco, the sky was only orange until it landed, not violet." Mammoth laughed at the sky, rearing up slightly. "You have to try harder than that to scare us away, Ponies!" he yelled at the battlements. Another explosion sounded above, this time much louder and seemingly closer. Mammoth looked up in time to catch a last look at a flaming ball of something careening towards him.

"Get down!" Celestia screamed as the fireball came from the gray clouds, pulling her sister off of her hooves and under the lip of the wall. The large ball of flame careened down from the sky, Mammoth staring at it with full confidence it was a light trick until he could feel the heat. His face drained of expression, panic filling his chest before the ball made impact atop his skull. The dragon was driven into the ground jaw first, his large body lifting thirty feet from the ground as his head made contact with the stone under him. The other three dragons dove away as the fire swept over them, debris and chunks of Mammoth's massive thirty foot long skull flying over the others.

Thorn scrambled to his feet, looking around the cloud of smoke, dust and blood-mist for his companions. Beside him, lifeless and burnt, was Xiang. The serpentine and wingless mage having caught a large fragment of bone in his chest area, his heart impaled on the tip of the fragment that protruded from his back. Thorn called out to Draco, but noticed he could not hear his own voice. He touched the side of his head, feeling blood trickle out of his ear and over his claw. He called out again regardless, hoping his comrade could hear him.

Draco rose to his feet slowly, looking back at where Mammoth had been flattened. All around him was dust, ash and blood, kicked up and vaporized by the impact. Draco wasn't sure but he had a rather good idea of what happened when something was struck by a meteorite. "Mammoth, are you alive?" he called out, walking toward the large form in the haze. "If you are, say something." He heard a mumbling sound. "Thank the gods; I had no idea if you could have… Survived the…" Draco trailed off as he came close enough to see Mammoth. His words were stolen by the state of his friend, his skull turned inside out and his eyes handing by their nerves. "What are you?" Draco said as something stirred inside of Mammoth's skull. It resembled Thorn, he was sure, but seemingly shorter and of a lighter color. The figure began to glow as a wind picked up, dust swirling around him as Mammoth's corpse caught fire and the flames leapt around the figure.

Kerik groaned as he awoke, having passed out during his freefall. He felt the ground beneath himself, although it felt soft, he could smell the stench of a large scale battle. "Ow," he rumbled in his throat, standing as he felt a wind begin to blow. "What are you!" a voice screamed, Kerik looking up and around quickly before drawing his hammer. His quick scan revealed that he was standing in what remained of a large dragon, one larger than he had ever seen. The beast was beginning to burn around him, the monstrous dragon's soul flowing into him. Before the crushed snout of the beast was what looked like a dragon; this one having four legs and a pair of independent wings. The dragon was holding a spear at Kerik, its body clad in golden armor. 'Dragons with weapons,' Kerik thought. 'This ought to be a joyous experience.' He ran through the Shout words he had learned, quickly deciding on one.

Celestia and Luna rose to their hooves, quickly finding where the dragon had been. In the center of a large dust cloud was a glowing figure brandishing a large hammer. "What in Tartarus is that," questioned Commander Hurricane to Celestia and Luna. "This must be something of your doing, nopony else can control the heavens." Celestia and Luna continue to stare as the dust began to clear, finding the figure to be standing on what remained of the monstrous dragons head.

"Well that solves that problem." Said Luna.

"But a side is yet to be taken," replied Celestia.

"I believe the side is quite clear," chimed Princess Platinum. "He literally crushed our most challenging opponent, what else but a gift from the Gods could this creature be?"

"The Gods are fickle beings," Celestia sniped. "Their wonders aren't won with a single prayer." She returned her view to the field, finding a single dragon threatening the creature with a spear. "Although loyalties can be won and lost with first impressions. Commander Hurricane," Celestia ordered. "Gather a contingent of airborne troops to send to this creature's aid, perhaps we can win an ally."

"What are you!?" Draco screamed at the creature standing on his fallen comrade. He lifted his spear towards the forms throat, holding it four feet below his own height. His blood ran cold as the figure raised a hammer into its hands.

"Fus-Ro-Dah!" Kerik yelled, a wall of air forming before him and colliding with the dragon. The beast seemed to panic as the Shout was released, hurrying backwards before the force struck him. The dragon was thrown onto a spear jutting from the ground, the shaft passing effortlessly through his chest. "That was easy," Kerik commented as the dragon sputtered his last breath. "Are these dragons impaired?" he questioned no one, looking around the field. All around him were fallen warriors, some dragons in armor and others seemingly fallen mounts.

Thorn could see through the haze, finding the dust cloud to be spinning around a single, glowing figure as Mammoth's corpse began to burn to bone. Before the figure was Draco, impaled on a spear and also alight as a golden energy began to flow to the figure from his body. "Stand and fight," He demanded of the figure, drawing his blades and taking a stance. "Tell me who you are so I may inform the families of my friends their slayer." The figure turned its head, looking at Thorn as it stepped out of Mammoth's skull. The being was seemingly a dragon, but smelled nothing of it. Between the crevices of the beings armor were bare patches of pale pink flesh, under the rim of what Thorn took as a horned helmet shone locks of golden hair.

"I am Kerik, Warrior of Windhelm and the last of the Dovahkiin," the being said, hefting his hammer onto a shoulder with one hand. "And you shall not be leaving this battleground." Thorn snarled at the being, baring his white fangs and raising his swords to defend himself.

"Think you I am of such low caliber as to fall by a hammer," Thorn bantered. "I shall have you in ribbons before you ready yo…" Thorn narrowly missed being struck with a thrust from Kerik's hammer, dodging to the side and sweeping the shaft away with his swords. Metal struck metal, casting sparks and Kerik rushed toward Thorn, the dragon swinging down at the opponent with his offhand blade. Kerik deflected the cleaving motion with the haft of his hammer, bringing the fifty pound head up toward the dragon's steel encased chest in a crushing slam. Thorn jumped back, attempting to dodge the blow and gain some distance to work with but was caught under the lip of his cuirass as Kerik twisted the hammer; bringing the claw on the end to bear.

Thorn struggled against Kerik's hold, pulling away but making no ground. He turned his blade around in his hand, bringing the point down. "Zun-Haal-Viik," Kerik shouted as he saw the blade approaching, the Thu`um wrenching Thorn's swords away from him. The dragon blinked once, noticing the fight was lost. Thorn kicked out, catching Kerik in the chest with enough force to knock him away.

Thorn flipped back before landing, watching as his cuirass landed between the two competitors. "This isn't over," Thorn yelled, holding a claw up accusingly. "I will have revenge Kerik, mark my words!" Kerik watched as the dragon turned away, sprinting into the mist that had settled around the battlefield before taking wing and vanishing into the smoke that hung heavy over the skies.

He raised his hammer over his head, slamming a gauntlet against his chest plate. "Aru! Aru!" Kerik screamed, celebrating his victory as the wisps of smoke that were disturbed by Thorn's wings returned to the featureless blanket. He let his arm fall to his side, turning his hammer over and returning it to his back with his off hand. He turned around, searching for more foes before allowing his guard to fall. He walked the field, viewing the fallen bodies of the two sides. "You said I would have to fight for my peace," Kerik said, unsure if Talos could hear him. "But you never mentioned who was fighting or who to join!" he kicked the fallen form of a dragon, frustration filling him. "Laas-Yah-Nir," He muttered, trying to find anyone with a morsel of life left. His vision changed, everything becoming darker around him as bodies took on auras. Most were black, lifeless clouds that clung to fallen warriors and horses like flies. But in the distance, about a hundred paces away, a body glowed with a dim blue light. He took to the pace, running the distance quickly and dropping to his knees. He slid to a stop beside the life light, tearing off his helmet and releasing the Thu`um.

Before him was the bleeding body of a horse, though it seemed all too small and much to like a thinking being. The small horse gasped for air, Kerik finding a gaping puncture hole in its ribs and covering it with his hand. The horse's breathing eased greatly, the hollow gasps becoming ragged breaths filled with coughing. "Thank… you…" the horse said, nearly causing Kerik to flinch with surprise. "Thank you… for helping me…" The horse coughed heavily, blood spraying out of its mouth. "And for killing that monster of a dragon." Kerik shook his head, adding pressure to the horses wound.

"Easy, be easy," Kerik coaxed, deciding to treat the talking beast like a fellow warrior rather than an animal. "Where are your allies?" He asked, getting a twitch of the head from the horse towards a ramshackle battlement in the distance. Kerik turned his head to the battlements, calling on the power of the Voice. "I need help," he called, the Thu`um carrying his voice farther than it could under the best of circumstances. "One of you charges is wounded. Send a healer, quickly," Kerik turned back to the horse, noticing his breathing had become more labored. "What is your name, warrior?" Kerik asked.

"M-my name… is Lance…" the horse said before falling into a fit of coughing. "Silver Lance…" Kerik nodded, looking back to the battlements to find winged creatures of multiple colors taking off from its parapets; flying towards them.

'Good,' Kerik thought. 'They heard me.' He returned his attention to Silver Lance. "Where are you from?" Kerik asked. The horse let out a slight laugh, following the humor with a deathly cough.

"What does it matter to you," Lance asked innocently. "You would not know it." Kerik shrugged.

"In my culture, a warrior's last thoughts should be of home." The pony looked up at him, having accepted his fate long ago. "It eases the passing." Lance laughed in full now, staggering his humor with rasping, blood filled coughs.

"Would you help ease my passing," Lance asked, receiving a nod as he nudged a dagger by his side with a hoof. "I am from Seaddle. It's a small village on the western edge of the continent." He continued to talk, his voice becoming weaker by the word. Kerik listened as he grasped the dagger awkwardly, finding the cuff best suited for being fill with a hoof rather than a hand. "My family has been there for generations." Lance's eyes became distant as Kerik placed the tip of a dagger between the plates of the ponies armor. "I was sweet on a filly from the neighboring village. I even asked to wed her of her parents, but that is not to be. Her family made wine from berries, Juniper I believe.***" Lance looked up into Kerik's eyes, resolve having set in. "It was burned to the ground by the dragons." Kerik nodded, sinking the blade into the pony's chest. Lance kicked once, the rest of his breath emptying slowly as his eyes closed.

"May you be guided to Sovengarde, and have always a swift wind at your heels." Kerik prayed, closing Lance's eyes completely. Standing up, a wave of exhaustion fell over him, causing his knees to give way to the full weight of his armor. He caught himself with a hand as he fell, the blood muddied ground swallowing it whole. He looked up, finding several horses like Lance standing around him, each holding a spear in his direction but keeping their distance. He attempted to stand again, reaching his feet as a gray tunnel began to fill his vision. He staggered forward, taking a few steps before he fell, the ground catching his unconscious body.

*This is an explanation for an improper word. I say "Scape" because Sovengarde doesn't have much land per say.

**This is a reference to the movie Reign of Fire. Denton Van Zant says this in a different phrasing to the crowd around him, trying to persuade them to join him.

*** This is a reference to Skyrim, where a Stormcloak at the beginning talks of his past.

So, what do you think? This is the story of my character in Skyrim, though taking a rather different path after killing the final dragon. Also inspired by Whisper Sun Silent Moon and how the author mentioned a war for Equestria that involved the Dragons.

Please review on the review posts. If I don't get enough, I probably won't continue it.